As Madhya Pradesh begins to harvest a bumper wheat crop, the state is finding that measures put in place to ensure that the powerful do not game the system are having the unintended effect of keeping out the most marginalised. In anticipation of a bumper harvest, the MP government announced a Rs 100 bonus that it would pay wheat farmers above the central government-fixed Minimum Support Price of Rs 1,120. "It...
More »SEARCH RESULT
‘Monopoly’ upsets Cong by Sanjay K Jha
Many Congress leaders feel that it was improper for Anna Hazare and his group to act as the sole conscience keepers of the civil society. The leaders are wondering if Anna Hazare’s letter to Sonia Gandhi, asking her to rein in Kapil Sibal and Digvijay Singh, was prompted by a perception that the Congress duo were expressing views on subjects the activists had monopolised on. Sibal had apparently said in an informal...
More »Concerns in BJP about shape of Lokpal Bill
As the political drama surrounding the fast undertaken by social activist Anna Hazare made way for the 10-member drafting committee for a Lokpal Bill, the Bharatiya Janata Party's stance has changed slowly but surely from open support to the Hazare-led group to scepticism. Within a day of Mr. Hazare sitting on fast here, BJP president Nitin Gakari said the social activist's views on the Lokpal Bill were “reasonably correct” and his...
More »Govt's top award for firemen bravery: Rs 100 by DP Satish
How much reward does a fire fighter get for one of the most difficult relief and rescue operations in recent times? That too in a major air crash, the worst in a decade. Karnataka government thinks that Rs 100 is the best reward! The 85 fire department personnel who worked non stop for 12 hours and remained at the crash site for 5 days have got certificates with an instruction to...
More »Make public expenses of PM's relatives on foreign tours: CIC
The Prime Minister's Office has been directed by the Central Information Commission (CIC) to provide details of the expenditure incurred on the PM's relatives accompanying him on visits abroad. The CIC rejected the PMO's argument that it did not have such records. The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the Protocol Division of the External Affairs Ministry have both stated they do no have these records with an RTI application shuttling between the...
More »